Spartak Moscow vs Rangers Predictions

This match finished 0-0 last month when the two teams met at Ibrox, but will it be a different story this time round as Group G’s top side face their polar opposites at the bottom?

Steven Gerrard’s men have picked up a loss, draw and a win since facing Spartak a few weeks ago and go into this game with moderate form. The win over St. Mirren at the weekend felt huge following the two disappointing results before against Kilmarnock and Aberdeen.

Late goals from Daniel Candeias and Alfredo Morelos eased the nerves on a pretty uncertain Rangers performance as the Buddies battled hard for the majority of the match. St. Mirren were unfortunate not to get anything from this match as they weren’t far behind the Bears in terms of shots on target and possession but ultimately Gerrard’s men got the three points to put an end to a disappointing run of results.

Rangers were on such a high ahead of their Betfred Cup semi-final against Aberdeen last month but had to play with the pretty inept Umar Sadiq up front instead of Morelos due to suspension and this came back to bite them. The Nigerian was handed a good number of chances but just lacked the prowess that his fellow striker has showed in the past and this allowed the Dons to go through to the final 1-0. Gerrard’s first semi-final with Rangers ended in disappointment.

This match was followed by a 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock at Ibrox. This was a game that Rangers dominated with 61% of the possession and nine more corners but they just couldn’t find a second goal as they drew 1-1. It was a week of frustration as they had really controlled the games against Killie, Aberdeen and Spartak so for them to have picked up so little was a let-down, but Gerrard will hope that the win against St. Mirren will give them the necessary confidence to do the job in Russia.

Spartak Moscow currently sit 7th in the Russian Premier League in what has been a disaster of a campaign so far. Massimo Carrera, the manager who led them to the title in 2017, was sacked a few weeks ago and Spanish fitness coach Raul Riancho has taken over for the last four games. His record has been two draws, a win and a loss in what has just extended this poor run for the club. They are still to fill the position so Riancho will take charge of this match, but it doesn’t read well for Spartak.

They have only won one of their last four matches as they have juggled the cup, league and Europa League over the last month. This sole victory came over 14th placed Anzhi in a very tight match and they have showed no sign of form coming into this massive game after they lost 2-1 at home to 9th placed Ural on Sunday.

Rangers’ away form has been pretty shaky as of late with them only winning two of their last seven on the road and those victories were against Hamilton and St. Mirren, both relegation favourites. The ‘Gers actually find themselves in a sticky patch with just one win in their last four games, but these have been pretty tough matches so can be excused. They should have the ability to at least match the Russians in this one who have only won one of their last six at home and that was against 14th placed Anzhi. This poor run of form makes us think this clash will fall into the hands of Rangers but with them short of confidence at the moment, we’re going to back this match to finish 1-1. Spartak have scored eight times in their last six matches while Rangers have bagged 13 in their last six so we’re expecting both sides to get on the scoresheet here.